The history of the stone which
was eventually named the Hope diamond began when the French merchant traveller,
Jean Baptiste Tavernier, purchased a 112 3/16-carat diamond. This diamond,
which was most likely from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India, was somewhat
triangular in shape and crudely cut. Its color was described by Tavernier
as a "beautiful violet."

Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668 with 14
other large diamonds and several smaller ones. In 1673 the stone was recut
by Sieur Pitau, the court jeweler, resulting in a 67 1/8-carat stone.
In the royal inventories, its color was described as an intense steely-blue
and the stone became known as the "Blue Diamond of the Crown,"
or the "French Blue." It was set in gold and suspended on a
neck ribbon which the king wore on ceremonial occasions.

King Louis XV, in 1749, had the stone reset by court jeweler Andre Jacquemin,
in a piece of ceremonial jewelry for the Order of the Golden Fleece (Toison
D'Or). In 1791, after an attempt by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to
flee France, the jewels of the French Royal Treasury were turned over
to the government. During a week-long looting of the crown jewels in September
of 1792, the French Blue diamond was stolen.

In 1812 a deep blue diamond described by John Francillion as weighing
177 grains (4 grains = 1 carat) was documented as being in the possession
of London diamond merchant, Daniel Eliason. Strong evidence indicates
that the stone was the recut French Blue and the same stone known today
as the HopeDiamond. Several references suggest that it was acquired by
King George IV of the United Kingdom. At his death, in 1830, the king's debts were
so enormous that the blue diamond was likely sold through private channels.

The first reference to the diamond's next owner is found in the 1839
entry of the gem collection catalog of the well-known Henry Philip Hope,
the man from whom the diamond takes its name. Unfortunately, the catalog
does not reveal where or from whom Hope acquired the diamond or how much
he paid for it.

Following the death of Henry Philip Hope in 1839, and after much litigation,
the diamond passed to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope and ultimately to the
nephew's grandson Lord Francis Hope. In 1901 Lord Francis Hope obtained
permission from the Court of Chancery and his sisters to sell the stone
to help pay off his debts. It was sold to a London dealer who quickly
sold it to Joseph Frankels and Sons of New York City, who retained the
stone in New York until they, in turn, needed cash. The diamond was next
sold to Selim Habib who put it up for auction in Paris in 1909. It did
not sell at the auction but was sold soon after to C.H. Rosenau and then
resold to Pierre Cartier that same year.

In 1910 the Hope diamond was shown to Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, of Washington
D.C., at Cartier's in Paris, but she did not like the setting. Cartier
had the diamond reset and took it to the U.S. where he left it with Mrs.
McLean for a weekend. This strategy was successful. The sale was made
in 1911 with the diamond mounted as a headpiece on a three-tiered circlet
of large white diamonds. Sometime later it became the pendant on a diamond
necklace as we know it today. Mrs. McLean's flamboyant ownership of the
stone lasted until her death in 1947.

Harry Winston Inc. of New York City purchased Mrs. McLean's entire jewelry
collection, including the Hope diamond, from her estate in 1949. This
collection also included the 94.8-carat Star of the East diamond, the
15-carat Star of the South diamond, a 9-carat green diamond, and a 31-carat
diamond which is now called the McLean diamond.

For the next 10 years the Hope diamond was shown at many exhibits and
charitable events world wide by Harry Winston Inc., including as the central
attraction of their Court of Jewels exhibition. On November 10, 1958,
they donated the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, and almost
immediately the great blue stone became its premier attraction.

The Hope diamond has left the Smithsonian only four times since it was
donated. In 1962 it was exhibited for a month at the Louvre in Paris,
France, as part of an exhibit entitled Ten Centuries of French Jewelry.
In 1965 the Hope diamond traveled to South Africa where it was exhibited
at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg. In 1984 the diamond was lent
to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, as part of the firm's 50th anniversary
celebration. In 1996 the Hope diamond was again sent to Harry Winston
Inc., in New York, this time for cleaning and some minor restoration work.

The weight of the Hope diamond for many years was reported to be 44.5
carats. In 1974 it was removed from its setting and found actually to
weigh 45.52 carats. It is classified as a type IIb diamond, which are
semiconductive and usually phosphoresce. The Hope diamond phosphoresces
a strong red color, which will last for several seconds after exposure
to short wave ultra-violet light. The diamond's blue coloration is attributed
to trace amounts of boron in the stone.

In the pendant surrounding the Hope diamond are 16 white diamonds, both
pear-shapes and cushion cuts. A bail is soldered to the pendant where
Mrs. McLean would often attach other diamonds including the McLean diamond
and the Star of the East. The necklace chain contains 45 white diamonds.

Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean
wearing the Hope Diamond with the McLean Diamond (31.26 Carats)
and Star of the East (94.8 Carats) attached

In December of 1988, a team from the Gemological Institute of America
visited the Smithsonian to grade the great blue stone using present day
techniques. They observed that the gem shows evidence of wear, has a remarkably
strong phosphorescence, and that its clarity is slightly affected by a
whitish graining which is common to blue diamonds. They described the
color as a fancy dark grayish-blue. An examination on the same day by
another gemologist using a very sensitive colorimeter revealed that there
is a very slight violet component to the deep blue color which is imperceptible
to the naked eye. Still, one can only wonder that the original 112 3/16-carat
stone bought by Tavernier was described as "un beau violet"
(a beautiful violet).

HOPE DIAMOND DATA

WEIGHT:

45.52 carats

DIMENSIONS:

Length 25.60 mm
Width 21.78 mm
Depth 12.00 mm

CUT:

Cushion antique brilliant with a faceted
girdle and extra facets on the pavilion.